growing up
by Howls-Princess-loves-EdwardRoy
Summary: Sometimes when you grow up, you end right back, at the beginning, and sometimes that’s exactly where you want to be.


Life is never simple

Life is never simple. Life is never easy.

Every intelligent person

On the planet

GROWING UP

Disclaimer: I don't own the Get Backers, nor am I making any money off this little…project.

-

Juubei Kakei pulled his glasses off his face as he lay down on his bed, breathing heavily. His eyes sight was starting to return, slowly for sure but it was returning. As he lay on his back, silently and still he heard Toshiki moving around in the room next to him, probably also getting ready to go to sleep. They had been working together a lot lately. Juubei sighed and turned over to lie on his stomach, idly wondering if Kazuki was staying at his apartment tonight, or coming back to the Limitless Fortress. He groaned as thoughts of his best friend washed over him. Just for once, just for one night he wished he wouldn't think about Kazuki, or how confusing everything around him was. Just one night….

"_Oh Juubei you're so old fashioned."_ Juubei sat up in his bed, swearing under his breath as his pillow hit the thin and crumbling wall opposite him.

"Kakei, are you alright?" Toshiki's voice called to him from the other side of the wall.

"Fine." Juubei replied shortly, standing up from his bed and pulling his shoes back on. "I'm going out." He strode out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Juubei didn't know where he was going, or where his feet were taking him. He had left the Limitless Fortress many hours ago, something he rarely did unless Kazuki was with him. He kicked a stray trash can realising he was doing it again. Thinking about Kazuki.

Why was he always thinking about Kazuki?!

_-Because he's your everything- _a traitorous voice said in the back of his brain.

_-You live only to serve him. That's what you were born to do-_ Juubei ignored the voice.

He looked around himself properly for the first time since he'd started walking and realised his feet had taken him to the foot of the building Kazuki's apartment was in. Without thinking Juubei walked up the stairs and within moments found himself in the elevator, heading for the 7th floor. Unsure of what he was doing Juubei stepped out onto the landing and headed down to the end of the corridor where he knew Kazuki's apartment was situated.

He rang the bell, still having no idea what on earth he was doing or why he was doing it.

-

Kazuki stared at the clock by his bed and sighed, turning back to his book. It was four in the morning. He should have been exhausted from helping Makubex quiet down yet another rogue gang but he couldn't fall asleep. He kept thinking about the conversation he had had with Ban after he had left and gone to the Honky-Tonk for a drink.

-

"So where's needle boy?" Ban asked as Kazuki sat down beside Ginji at the bar, ordering a coffee from Natsumi.

"_At the Limitless Fortress." Kazuki replied evenly._

"_Ah." Ban smirked and looked away, bringing his cigarette to his mouth. Before he had a chance to take a drag off the toxic drug Ginji tackled him and they both ended up on the floor in a huge tangle of limbs. "OI!" Ban shouted as Ginji grabbed the cigarette out of his hand and threw it away, "What the hell are you doing moron?!"_

"_You're not supposed to smoke!" Ginji cried as Ban began to exact his revenge._

_Kazuki watched the exchange between the partners smiling lightly. He remembered when he and Juubei had acted like that, when they were kids. Well, Juubei never really acted like __that__, but Kazuki could easily remember several times he had been in trouble with his friend for staying out in the cold to late….or that time when he had just learnt how to swim properly and had been trying to show of and had nearly __drowned__……_

"_Not getting nostalgic are we?" Kazuki looked up as Natsumi handed him his coffee to respond to Ban's question. It seemed Ginji had been subdued, though Ban wasn't smoking._

"_Nostalgic about what?" Kazuki asked, holding the warm mug up to his lips. Ban snorted._

"_So, tell me – have you two made it final yet?"_

"_What? I don't understand." Kazuki said, his voice calm._

"_You and needle boy."_

"_I don't wish to discuss my personal life with you Ban Midou." Kazuki told him, standing up from his seat, leaving his untouched coffee on the bench._

"_Oh grow up Thread Spinner." Said Ban as Kazuki left the café. _

_-_

The doorbell interrupted Kazuki's thoughts. He rolled over and sat up in bed, wondering who on earth was at his door at this time of….day, night….whatever. He slipped out of bed and hurried into the hallway, rubbing his bare arms against the cold of his apartment. He pulled the door open with half a mind to tie the person on the other side to the outside window and leave them hanging there, and stopped in mid-thought.

"Juubei, what are you doing here?" he asked, astonished.

"I…I…I should go." Juubei said, turning on his heel. Kazuki reached out and grabbed his arm before leading the taller man into his lounge room and sitting him down on the couch.

"Would you like some tea?"

"No."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry to have disturbed you."

"It doesn't matter, I was awake anyway."

"Oh."

Juubei cast around for something to say, hating how awkward it suddenly was between then. It was never like this when they had been kids, or when they were in the Limitless Fortress, everything had seemed right then. The touch of Kazuki's hands on his body well when they were children that had never…him kissing Kazuki's lips had seemed so….normal, right. Even perfect.

-

Kazuki began playing with his bells, a habit he'd picked up in the Limitless Fortress, his mother had never allowed fidgeting when he was a child. He didn't know what to say to make things…okay again. After they had seen each other again it had taken some time, but they had been close to where they had been before. That bond…that….love? Was love the word he wanted? Did he love Juubei? He had said he did, when he was a child, it had just innocently slipped out of his mouth one day, but Juubei hadn't seemed to mind. In fact all he had done was wrap his arms around Kazuki and told him he would get cold if he stayed outside much longer. Had they lost that? They had begun to re-discover it, but then Toshiki had reappeared and now they were back at square one. Worse than square one. He couldn't leave it at that. Not with Juubei, not after how much pain and then happiness he had experienced at finding this man again.

"Juubei,"

"Kazuki," Kazuki stopped and looked down at his arms still crossed over his chest.

"You first."

"No…you." Kazuki allowed himself a tiny smile at the embarrassed look on Juubei's face.

"There's a lot we should talk about." Kazuki began, slowly, "Where we stand, what we want, who we are. It's not simple like it was before. We both need to grow up and heal the trust and, and, work out – how to do this,"

"Kazuki,"

"If you even want to, I mean, it's all,"

"Kazuki,"

"-hard and confusing and I don't even know,"

"Kazuki!"

"-God I'm ranting aren't I? Sorry-," Suddenly Juubei's lips were on his, squashing whatever pathetic words were about to come out of his mouth. He leaned in, returning the kiss fiercely. Juubei pulled away slowly, his face flushed.

"I apologise…" he began but Kazuki cut him off.

"I love you." He whispered kissing Juubei's mouth softly. Juubei's strong arms snaked around his waist and suddenly they were children again, lying out in the sun and watching the lazy frogs hop from rock to rock in the pond.

Sometimes when you grow up, you end right back, at the beginning, and sometimes that's exactly where you want to be.

-

Okay, so that turned out a bit differently. The characters are kind ooc…

_Well, I felt like I had to write this anyway, so please review – preferably with niceness and go away and have a nice day! _


End file.
